PANAMA CITY, Fla. –
Personnel from the Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) Integrated Logistics Support Division (E50) recently formed a new program to provide developmental guidance to new logistics personnel during their first one to three years as professional members of this activity.
NSWC PCD’s Integrated Logistics Support Division leadership recognized the need to create a variant of the New Professionals Development Program (NPDP), specifically for their entry-level logistics hires. The New Professionals Development Program - Logistics (NPDP-L) provides a structure focused on the development of organizational knowledge, technical proficiencies, leadership and process management. The NPDP-L will provide these employees with rotational opportunities led by team leads and senior logisticians.
“We recognized many of our entry-level new hires had little to no experience in logistics. So, it was up to us to figure out a way to train them up to gain those skillsets,” said Peter Halvorson, Life Cycle Logistics competency lead. “Fortunately, we had both the NPDP and the intern program as examples we could use to create a formal process to develop and grow our new entry-level hires.”
In the past, new logistician hires would be aligned into a specific branch and not have a well-rounded perspective of other mission areas other than the one they were assigned.
By creating the NPDP-L, significant benefits to employees and the command are:
- Creates career path opportunities for entry-level hires
- Creates more informed employees who better understand the interrelationships of the 12 Integrated Product Support (IPS) elements
- Follows the framework of the NSWC PCD Technical Career Planning Guide
- Creates a career path to help logistics element managers, for example, specialists who may want to eventually become ILS leads, or generalists
- Aligns with the existing NPDP
- Naturally moves employees into the Competency Proficiency Program upon their completion of the NPDP-L
Initial participants in the program include Amy Hayes, Tiffany Finch, Lauren Hansen, and Matt Vowell. Their rotations began Oct. 3 and will continue until each of them reach their full performance goals. Each was initially hired to work in configuration management, but their rotations will take them through the IPS element areas of provisioning, training development, technical manuals, and maintenance planning.
“This is a great program for new employees because it provides an insight into the other supporting logistics elements,” said Matt Vowell, configuration manager. “This will no doubt have a positive impact on my current position and overall logistics lifecycle knowledge. It is an honor to be a part of this pilot program and I hope it will become a permanent tool in the education of NSWC PCD logistics employees.”
Logistics is a very diverse field spanning 12 product support areas and this program provides the opportunity to gain experience across multiple IPS elements.
“By creating a program that allows apprentice-level employees to gain experience in alternative integrated product support areas, they gain a clearer understanding of their role in the product support team, the value of matrixed support and future focus areas for training,” said Dr. Michael Taft, NSWC PCD Integrated Logistics Support division head.
Upon successful completion of the NPDP-L, participants will be presented a certificate of completion and be awarded the designation of a Level 1 Logistician by the Competency Proficiency Program Board for successfully meeting all Level 1 Proficiency Standards.